A Martelmas To Remember
by ThePurpleRose
Summary: Christmas fic! Yuan plays host to Christmas with the group in Flanoir. Includes snow, Santa, cookies, mistletoe, presents, Christmas dinner, candycanes, oyako and the Kharlan war. When Lloyd said it'd be a special Christmas, he wasn't wrong...
1. Mistletoe and Contacting Santa

**AN: (Sings) Christmas fic! (Dances) Yeah, I've decided to do my Christmas fic for ToS this year, after last year's failed attempt at doing a Naruto Christmas fic at the request of a friend last year... I wrote two and posted neither (Because I abandoned one (It sucked BIG time) and didn't managed to finish the other in time; though I might upload it this year if I have the time, so it doesn't go to waste).**

**Expect flashbackness, oyako, the Kharlan war and of course, the Christmas goodness we all love to love so much... But for this chapter... Well, you'll see. Just bear with.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, but I wouldn't say no if someone was to, say, get it for me? (Is hopeful)**_

* * *

Zelos dodged around a random renegade, the man not seeming to notice as he tiptoed past and pinched his fold-up ladder. Thankfully, the pink-clad man didn't encounter any more renegades as he carried his precious cargo into the hall-like room where the Christmas festivities would be taking place for the heroes while the Renegades were on their hard-earned Christmas holidays.

He set the ladder down to the side of the door, relying on the keen vision granted to him by his Cruxis crystal to make out the tacks sitting in his pocket. He transferred his weight onto the ladder and climbed it, careful not to make even the smallest sound as he fished out a tack and a sprig of mistletoe, smirking devilishly into the darkness, and gently and, above all, noiselessly attached them to the door frame.

And Sheena thought _she_ was the ninja...

Stepping down from the ladder, Zelos bit down on a satisfied chuckle, determined not to ruin Operation Mistletoe at the last minute, only to fall to the floor with a loud crash and an undignified yelp of, "Not the face!" when the hall was illuminated by the flick of a switch.

"Oowwww!" Zelos moaned, clutching at his face, eyes opening to take in the unimpressed blue-haired figure with folded arms that towered over his prone form.

"Nice try, Zelos," was the could-be sarcastic comment as the half-elf leapt onto the ladder, removed the mistletoe and stashed it in the deep hidden pockets of his cape – or as he preferred, as it carried an air of mystery, his cloak.

"Awww! You're no fun!" Zelos whined, picking himself up off the floor. "You know that, Old Timer?"

"With age comes experience," Yuan said, sagely, a smirk weaving its way around his face.

Zelos scoffed, only causing Yuan's smirk to widen as the half-elf added, "When are you going to give up? I'm getting tired of this little game."

"What makes you think I'm giving up?" Zelos retorted, brushing past Yuan, a wolfish grin spreading on his face.

"Oh I don't know," Yuan toyed, "Maybe the fact that I've caught you every night this week."

Zelos yawned. "Tomorrow, Yuan," he promised, pointing a finger in the direction of the half-elf challengingly. "There will be mistletoe. You can't have Christmas without mistletoe kisses! How do you keep catching me anyway?"

That last question Yuan assumed to be rhetorical as it was uttered more than spoken, and with that, Tethe'alla's chosen stalked off down the corridor, leaving his host to scoop up the ladder and return it to the renegade who had been using it to hang holly wreathes earlier. He only had tonight's night shift to finish decorating before they left on the time off he let them have every year.

After receiving a customary, "Thank you, Lord Yuan," from the renegade, their leader's mind wandered as his feet took him back towards his office and adjoining bedroom.

Couldn't have Christmas without mistletoe? The blue-haired man shook his head, smiling. Yuan knew very well that you could, and probably should when Sheena was around and you happened to a philandering red-head known as Zelos.

Opening his door, he came into contact with another red-head, this one seated at his desk with a book open on its polished surface. The man looked up as the door closed, Yuan having already made his way over to the desk.

"Hey, Kratos," he said, leaning over the book into his companion's expectant face. "Guess what I've got?"

The swordsman frowned, his eyebrows lifting as Yuan hunted blindly in his pocket for the object in question, with one hand. "I would hope that it isn't food, seeing as you've put it in your cape," he responded.

"It's a cloak," Yuan corrected automatically, preceding an exclamation of "Aha!" as his fingers closed around the object.

"Mistletoe!" he announced whipping it from his pocket and dangling in front of the human's eyes. "You know what they say about mistletoe..."

He received a light punch to the shoulder. "That it repels werewolves," Kratos replied.

Yuan dropped the mistletoe back into his pocket, moving out of the human's range with a chuckle.

How did he always catch Zelos? Well, the philanderer wasn't the only one to sneak mistletoe onto doorways before Christmas. However, _he_ hadn't been caught doing it. Well, at least, not when it really mattered anyway.

Stealing one last glance at the human at his desk, Yuan smirked before he headed into his bedroom. Yes, Yuan was the real ninja here. And didn't Kratos know it.

* * *

"Guys! Guys Guys Guys!"

Lloyd rounded a corner with such speed that he almost ploughed into Raine, who has been eying the door to the kitchens of the Flanoir base in an almost hungry manner that unsettled her younger brother greatly.

"What is it, Lloyd?" Colette asked immediately, concern clouding her caring blue eyes as she stared up at her friend from her seat at the extremely long table the Renegades ate at, as Regal appeared in the door way, complete with his chef's hat, to find out what the noise was all in aid of.

"We haven't written our Martelmas-"

"Christmas," Yuan interrupted, without looking up from the file he appeared to be reading. He was actually observing Zelos out of the corner of his eye, expecting the Chosen to duck out of the room when he thought no-one was looking to plant some mistletoe. **(AN: No pun intended...)**

It had been 'Christmas' when he was a child, and if they wanted to spend the holidays in his base for free, they would have to live by his rules. Since Martel had been granted her eternal peace at last, he had been able to make peace with and enjoy her memory, but he would not celebrate a holiday of Mithos' image of her when Christmas had been the holiday that she had celebrated when she had been alive.

Lloyd shrugged, running out of steam for a moment before he realised he hadn't shared the very important piece of information that had ousted him from his bed before the glorious scent of food, his usual alarm clock (that wasn't Genis casting a water spell on him), had had the chance to.

"We haven't written our lists!" he exclaimed.

Genis, Colette and Zelos all gasped. Raine shook her head, smiled and made a small 'tut' noise, while Sheena simply said, "You've lost me. We all know what each other wants for Christmas, and most of us-" here she turned and glared at Zelos, who emitted awkward laughter, "- have bought everyone's Mar-Christmas presents anyway. Why would we need a list?"

"For Santa!" Genis answered, his eyes wide at the possibility that Sheena could not know about Santa.

Colette nodded eagerly. "We have to write a letter and send it to Santa, so that he knows what to get us if we've been good this year!"

"Wait," the summoner laughed. "So what you're saying is that you expect us to write a letter to Santa?"

"Uh huh," Genis summed up.

"But-"

Every adult in the room was aware that the conversation had taken a dangerous turn for the young (and not so young) believers, and each was aware that they needed to take control of the situation to preserve some fragile Christmas dreams. Raine started to open her mouth, but was beaten, surprisingly, by Kratos.

"You must remember that we are a diverse group, and that festive rituals in Iselia and Mizuho differ from each other," he reminded softly, sending Sheena a pointed look.

"Wow, really?" Lloyd enquired, rounding on the uncomfortable ninja.

Sheena averted her eyes from Kratos threatening gaze, into Raine's stern, urging one and away again, to the table that wasn't glaring at her. "Er, yeah," she stated. "In Mizuho, chi-" Raine cleared her throat. "I mean, we, write a list for Santa and throw it in the fire so he gets it."

"But how does it get there if it's burnt?" Zelos wondered, Sheena's eyes widening in shock as she rounded on him.

Still surprised that _Zelos_ of all people seemed to believe the myth, she stammered, "I-I... It just _does_, okay?" Then in a flash of inspiration, she added, "The summon spirits take the words to him."

"_We_ just trust in the postal service," Zelos bragged. "I give my letter to Sebastian and he posts it to Santa at the North Pole, which is under Flanoir, in case Mizuho doesn't know that."

"You wanna know what we do?" Genis asked, though he didn't give anyone time to reply before he continued to babble on excitedly. "We put it up the chimney! It might get burnt but the smoke carries the words to Santa, and then he'll bring something you want down the chimney."

There was a sharp intake of breath, sending all eyes in the general direction of Colette, whose face betrayed something that was the lovechild of heartbreak and horror.

"Oh no! I didn't see a chimney here! How is Santa supposed to come?"

"I leave the back door open, Colette," Yuan diffused, then looking over to Kratos with a smirk, tagged onto that, "And when I forget, he comes through the window."

The human raised his eyebrows, struggling to hold back a smile at the memory this sparked, but said nothing as Regal, having disappeared back into the kitchen to serve breakfast, rang the little bell that Yuan insisted they use instead of the large one while it was just them because it was easier on his enhanced hearing.

"Food time!" Lloyd announced, instantly abandoning his friends at the table in favour of charging into the kitchen.

Genis and Colette ate breakfast surprisingly quickly, finishing almost as quickly as Lloyd managed to finish inhaling his second portion of Regal's potato waffle, egg and bacon combination, and all three had started composing their letters to Santa by the time the others had eaten half of their meal.

"Hey Zelos," Lloyd called, pausing in his frantic pen scratching to look up at the red-haired Chosen, who was the next person to set down his cutlery and had leaned back in his chair, pillowing the back of his head in his hands. "Aren't you gonna start writing your letter?"

"Yeah," Genis piped up. "Raine told me that the quicker you get your letter to Santa, the better it is for Santa."

"Already written it," Zelos declared. "In fact, I might even go and post it right now."

"I think we should wait and post them together," Sheena proposed, swallowing a mouthful of bacon, having finally caught on to the game played by the non-believers at this time of year.

Raine backed her up. "I think that's a lovely idea."

"Fine," Zelos agreed, "but you all had better hurry up with writing your lists; I won't wait forever."

"Dad?"

Kratos' eyes locked onto his son's and he inclined his head to show that he was listening.

Lloyd continued with his question, "Why aren't you writing a letter?"

"Because I am much too old to receive gifts from Santa," the mercenary stated simply.

"But-"

"I'm going to make Christmas tree cookies!" Raine announced, standing suddenly.

Her students jumped to dissuade her, Genis whining that _he_ wanted to make the cookies in the hope of guilting her into letting him take over to save their palates while all others backed him up and Zelos turned a strange shade of green. Amidst this chaos, even Kratos failed to notice that Yuan had slipped away to his office to prepare a little Christmas surprise.

He only hoped Kratos wouldn't be too overcome with emotion...

**

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AN: Okay, this chapter was a little slow moving. It gets better as we go along and get closer to Christmas. But yeah, I just thought I'd do this for Christmas. The chapters probably won't be very long, 'cause, as you can probably all tell, they start to run out of steam closer to the end... But hopefully the Christmassy goodness makes up for that.

**And yes, there is a slight Doctor Who (which I don't own) reference. Could just be mythology in general but I heard it on Doctor Who so... Yeah.**

**Next chapter will have secret meetings, snowballing, shopping and decorating. Any questions, requests and feedback?**

**Hint: reviews would make my Christmas all that bit more Merry! **

**Oh, and I'm considering writing their letters to Santa and posting it as a fic. What do you think? Would you read that if I wrote it?**

**~ThePurpleRose**


	2. Stealth, Secret Meetings and Lists

**AN: Okay, second chapter! This may or may not be finished before Christmas. I'm working on it, but yeah... Hopefully, it should be finished by New Years Eve.**

**I'd just like to note that I don't have a beta reader for this fandom, although the lovely ****Sadie193**** puts up with the challenge in the Inheritance Cycle fandom. I do use spell-check and I read it through myself, but I am always missing things and having to go back to correct them. So if you want to be a part of the Typo Police, feel free to point out the mistakes. ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: There are only four more days left for you to buy ToS for me for Christmas... Please?**_

* * *

"Right, so you know the plan?" a shadowy figure whispered in Yuan's office. Aside from this, only silence emanated from this and the surrounding rooms, the majority of the base's occupants asleep and complete silence necessary to fool those who weren't.

An exasperated sigh answered. "Yes," was the accompanying hiss.

"Well, I'm sorry, but you're not exactly ninja quality," came the response. The long-haired figure's hands rose to shadowed hips, a movement easily seen by the other figure cloaked in the darkness.

"That's it," the other figure decided, setting something on the carefully polished surface of the desk with a slap that resounded through the silence of the office. "You're on your own."

"I still have that mistletoe, you know," the other voice commented, seemingly off-handedly, amusement bubbling beneath the surface.

Eyes narrowed in the darkness. A step brought the two figures closer together.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Am I?" was the vague, rhetorical answer, with a complementary smirk on the side. There was a light, quiet laugh, then, "Come on, then. You've got some deliveries to make and I'd hate to be late for Zelos. Remember, Ra-"

"Raine first and Sheena last," the other finished impatiently. "Why did I agree to do this again?"

Cape swishing gleefully, the ponytailed figure noiselessly opened the door with the reply, "Because your son still believes in Santa and you don't want to see his crushed expression when Santa doesn't come. That and, you know, I asked you to."

"As my son would say, Yuan, whatever helps you sleep at night," Kratos retorted, retrieving the white slips of paper he'd thrown down on his companion's desk.

Yuan snorted at this, and the string of responses it triggered in his head, but settled for a quick, Mithos-esque, "Talk to the hand," retort and disappeared around the door frame to thwart Zelos' latest attempt at decorating against his will.

Kratos sighed, but followed, sneaking into Raine's room first. Yuan was much better suited to this, he mused, as a whine of "Aw man!" alerted him to the proximity of a certain red-haired menace, and he was forced to quickly duck back into Raine's room with a muffled curse, only to discover that the half-elven healer was awake and had heard that.

He flinched at the soft click of her bedside lamp, turning to face her as she started, "Kratos, wha-"

He pressed his finger to his lips in what he hoped was still a universally accepted, polite expression of 'Shut Up'. Apparently, it was as she sat up, folded her arms, and narrowed her eyes in his direction, obviously expecting an explanation of his reasons for being in her room in the middle of the night.

He didn't give one, instead creeping over to her bedside table, picking up the slip of paper he'd placed there without her knowledge and forcing it into her hand, trying not to let the awkwardness of the situation affect his cool, calm demeanour. He was lucky Raine had one of those too; he was beginning to understand why Yuan told him to leave Sheena until last.

He really wasn't much of a ninja.

She read the slip of paper, her eyes widening in realisation before giving him an understanding nod. He waited until Zelos' stomping faded into nothing, then said, "Not a word of this to anyone, understand?" and finally left.

Whether he meant the late-night visit or the contents of the note, Raine didn't know, but she committed the information to memory, shook her head, blinked and switched off the light.

* * *

"Hey, Yuan?"

The half-elf's eyebrows rose, the only indication that he'd heard the boy in the red pyjamas, who was incapable of waiting for breakfast quietly, or waiting at all really. He could sense the stupid question coming.

"How come you didn't decorate properly?" There it was.

"What?" was all Yuan could think to say, shooting a sharp glare at the mercenary next to the eternal swordsmen, who had muffled his chuckle with his hand.

"See!" Zelos exclaimed, standing with the force of his point. "Bud gets the idea of Christmas! You can't have Christmas without putting mistletoe up!"

Lloyd frowned, but ignored Zelos, pointing out, "Well, you haven't made snowflakes to stick in the window."

"It's okay, Lloyd," Colette jumped to reassure him. "I made some and Genis and I stuck them on the wall near the tree."

"Does nobody appreciate the value of mistletoe here?" Zelos demanded, only to have the attention completely removed from him as Genis rang the 'meal' bell.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Sheena asked as she sat down, having been the last to grab her breakfast – Genis' famous pancakes.

"I would appreciate some quiet if I'm going to finish my paperwork in time for Christmas," Yuan commented.

The adults exchanged glances, Raine opening her mouth to suggest a trip to town for the believers, only to be pipped at the post by Lloyd, who, with a mouth full of pancake, shouted, "Snowball fight!" or something similar through the food.

Colette picked up the point. "Yes, let's play in the snow!" She turned to Raine, eyes pleading. "Please professor?"

Raine wavered, cast a look over to Yuan, who nodded once, sighed and replied, "Fine, but stay near Flanoir. You can go with Zelos."

The philanderer choked. "Hey! Who said I was going out anywhere?" he spluttered, reaching for his class of orange juice.

Sheena glared. "You haven't been Christmas shopping yet, and unless you do, you aren't getting anything from me; I'll just take your present back."

"But hunny-" he protested.

"Christmas is about giving and receiving Zelos," Genis reminded him dryly as Sheena visibly suppressed the urge to propel herself over the table in order to slap the philanderer opposite her. "You have to give in order to receive."

Zelos huffed and folded his arms but accepted begrudgingly, "Alright fine. I'll go to Flanoir, and do the shopping, but I am not snowballing."

"What? Afraid of my awesome snowball-throwing?" Genis teased.

Zelos snapped, "Shut it, brat!"

Sheena laughed evilly, seeing the perfect opportunity for some payback as all eyes shot questioningly to her. "No," she explained. "Zelos is more concerned about the state of his hair, like all the cheap floozies he hangs around with."

"What my voluptuous hunny is unable to understand," Zelos stated, ignoring Sheena's scowl, "is that I appreciate the unique beauty of each and every woman. And for her information, I don't like snow."

"Because you're scared it'll make your hair all straggly and frizzy when it melts," Sheena finished.

Zelos stood suddenly, his expression cold and hard. "I don't like snow," he repeated. "And I'm not playing in it."

He stormed over to the door, pausing just long enough, without turning around, to say, "I'll meet you at the front of the base in half an hour, Bud."

Genis coughed, "hissy fit!"

Raine delivered a half-hearted slap to the back of her brother's head, suggesting, "Well whoever's going to Flanoir should probably go and get ready."

Lloyd and Colette voiced their approval as Genis enquired, "Aren't you coming to Flanoir?"

Raine shook her head. "I'm going to wrap your present when I know you won't interrupt."

"I think I'll sit this one out too," Sheena declared, remembering the message on the slip of paper she'd found on her bedside table. "Y'know, give Zelos some time to cool off and get some wrapping done myself."

Lloyd looked as though he might protest but instead gazed hopefully on to his father. "Dad?"

"I am afraid, Lloyd, that I will have to decline," was the mercenary's answer. "Yuan and I have some finalities to seal with Cruxis."

The half-elf in question nodded sagely as Lloyd looked towards him to confirm. Panic stricken, the much younger half-elf to Lloyd's left stammered, "H-how about you P-Presea? Regal?"

The pink haired girl opposite him blinked. "I think I would like to enjoy this 'snow'. It will be... fun," she replied, prompting Genis' cheeks to scramble to match the tone of her hair.

He barely even noticed as Regal proclaimed that he had some work he needed to tie up, and Lloyd yanked him off his seat by the elbow with a cry of, "C'mon Genis, let's go!"

Presea was going, and that meant a chance to impress her in the snow and get close to her teaching her to make snow angels... She had to give him a chance, in the name of Martelmas spirit.

* * *

Zelos stalked around the shops under a metaphorical cloud of doom and gloom, and a physical cloud of snow, in an effort to finish his Christmas shopping. Truthfully, he'd already bought presents for most of the group, barring a couple of people, his most important people, whose perfect gift still managed to elude him.

And now he couldn't even think about what the not-quite-perfect-but-it'll-do gift for those people would be because he'd snapped about the snow and it was now playing on his mind like a monkey with a harmonica. Or maybe not a monkey with harmonica. Perhaps a dog and piano – Colette would like that as much as the stuffed toy puppy he'd had made for her in Meltokio.

He gave his head a sharp shake to dismiss all stupid thoughts of Meltokio and entertainment, and focus himself on his current problem. He had Lloyd and Sheena left to buy for. He hadn't thought his bud would be much of a problem. Lloyd was wondrously simple when it came to gifts and operated on two principles; one: it was thought that counted and two: food was always good unless made by Raine, in which case, Noishe should have it.

Lloyd liked swordsmanship, stars and food. But food wasn't special. Lloyd already had the best swords he could, previously belonging to both his fathers, and Zelos was never going to be able to top that with anything he could buy, because he didn't have the talent to make anything. So what could Zelos do? He could hardly catch a star for him.

And then there was Sheena. He couldn't buy her jewellery or she'd complain about being treated like a particularly pretty member of his fan club. The same applied to chocolates, which weren't personal enough and luxury bath items. If he gave her anything remotely suggestive, his cheek and probably a larger proportion of his body as well would feel the consequences and he didn't know enough about ninja life to go down the safer route of buying her some weaponry.

He gasped, realising that his frenzied pacing had taken him to the church. He knew now that Martel wasn't really a goddess and that the religion was really an elaborate lie thought up by psychotic teenage half-elf with extreme sister issues, but Mithos had to have based the religion on something, right? There had to have been something before that. And who was to tell Zelos that there was no goddess, even if she wasn't Martel?

And it would be warm in there. And away from the snow and the painful memories it dug up to see children playing in it with their parents.

Zelos gladly stepped inside.

* * *

They were not the Knights of the Round Table. For one, Yuan mused, the table was rectangular in shape, and then only one of them had ever been a knight, but it was a pretty stealthy operation and Yuan was glad that he had been the one responsible for pulling it off. He glanced upwards to the mercenary leaning against the wall, and then to the healer who sat upright at the table. Well, he had helped. A little. He could accept full credit for creating the secret messages that had lead the non-believers to what he liked to call a secret meeting - even if he had been forced to employ the help of Kratos to deliver them. He'd had another plan to thwart. He was a very busy man.

He brought his eyes back down to the sheet of paper in his hand and the bubbly, looping handwriting that adorned it, managing to exude cheerfulness and flowers even through print. As far as documents went, Yuan didn't find it to be a particularly interesting specimen. All he learned from it was that Colette really liked Santa, was extremely sorry for inkblot she had caused on the paper, wanted a puppy and failing that, would be ecstatic to receive world peace. All in all, he hadn't read anything more that what he already knew.

He looked up from the paper again into the ice-blue eyes of Raine Sage.

"Colette wants a puppy," she stated. It wasn't a question. The teacher knew.

Yuan nodded. "But she'd be perfectly fine with world peace."

The nodding appeared to be infectious as Raine took over, "It's the same every year. Let me guess, she'd like something for all of us as well."

"Yes," Yuan confirmed, scanning the bottom of Colette's letter. "But she has mentioned that she'd like a new summer dress."

Raine reached for the blank piece of paper in the middle of the table between the four that sat at it and scrawled the words, 'Colette – summer dress', followed by 'Genis – panpipes'.

"How about Zelos?" she asked, lowering the pen.

Sheena was frowning at Zelos' list. "He wants a hot tub, some attention from a particular hunny and a better life for his sister," she relayed before commenting, "That's surprisingly unselfish for Zelos."

"There isn't anything smaller?" Raine questioned.

"No but there is a note from Sebastian saying he's taken care of it and to leave a note 'from Santa' to tell Zelos he's been given a hot tub," informed Sheena. She sighed. "Rich people... No offense Regal."

"None taken," Regal responded, waiting for Raine to finish ticking by Zelos' name on her piece of paper before continuing, "Presea has only asked for a potted pine tree to live in her room."

"That was very straight and to-the-point," Yuan commented.

Sheena smiled. "That was Presea."

"Kratos?" Raine prompted, setting down the pen and turning towards where the mercenary was staring at Lloyd's letter to Santa, his expression completely hidden by his hair. "I know Lloyd usually reels off a long list of impossible things for people like us to buy him, but just pick out some of the more likely things."

There was no response.

"Just read the whole list if you can't choose," Raine offered, misunderstanding the silence as contemplation.

"Lloyd wishes for..." he trailed off.

Yuan leaned back on his chair and plucked the letter out of Kratos' unresisting hands. He cleared his throat, ready to read what he was sure would be a long list of crazy demands for world peace, the destruction of exspheres, and possibly even his mother back – which would explain his father's sudden inability to read.

Instead, his tone became progressively more questioning as he read aloud, "Dear Santa. Thanks for last year's presents – how did you know I'd need sheaths for the wooden swords Dad made me? But then, I guess I did ask you for sword stuff and that counts, right? Anyway, I don't need any sword stuff this year 'cause Dad and Dad gave me the best swords ever, and I'm never gonna replace them. I know it sounds stupid but I only really want one thing this year. I really want to spend more time with my Dad-" Yuan's eyebrows lifted as he cut himself off. "Oh."

**

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AN: Okay, I didn't get quite as much done in this chapter as I was planning to, but that just seemed like an appropriate place to end it – even if it is probably riddled with mistakes... Take pity on an author working late at night?

**Next chapter will definitely see some fun in the snow, but the rest is all variable. The ideas are all in my head but I'm not sure what I'll get though next chapter. I wasn't exactly on the mark with the last preview...**

**But I hope you've all enjoyed; and if you have, haven't or just want to say 'hi' or 'Merry Christmas', please press the review button!**

**Extreme thanks (think Colette and her apologising) to all my amazing reviewers and the people who have put this story on their alerts and/or favourites! It makes my day to know you're reading and liking this.**

**Thanks for reading, and until next time!**

**~ThePurpleRose**


	3. Twas The Night Before Christmas

**AN: Merry Christmas Everyone! Hopefully this'll be the last chapter on the build-up to Christmas. I can't think of anything else to put here at the time of writing (Christmas Eve), so on with the fic!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS but I hold out hope for a late Christmas present! ... Hint...**_

* * *

The soft, enticing aroma of hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream drifted through the room occupied by the decorated tree and Colette and Genis' paper snowflakes, but not, as of yet, Zelos' mistletoe. Genis warmed his frozen fingers on the steaming mug of hot chocolate, blowing into it in a futile attempt and cooling it enough to drink. Lloyd sat beside him, animatedly recounting the action of the massive snowball fight that had occurred between the two best friends while Colette and Sheena had been making a snow-woman.

Yesterday, he had finally managed to teach Presea the ancient art of snow angel making, until the moment had been ruined by Lloyd's loud complaint that snow angels were no longer accurate, which resulted in Colette using her wings in the snow to create some kind of snow... lump, and Lloyd attempting to fix the situation by making a normal snow angel of his own and segmenting the wings with his fingers. Genis wasn't going to lie; it had looked like a squashed monster.

"Bed early tonight," Raine commented suddenly.

"Awwww Professor!" Lloyd whined.

Raine raised her eyebrows. "If you're not asleep," she reminded him, "Santa won't bring you anything."

"But what about Dad and Yuan?" Lloyd protested. "They don't sleep!"

Amusement twitched at the corners of Kratos' lips as he stated, "I'm sure we can make an exception for tonight."

"It isn't that we can't sleep," Yuan informed him, "we just don't need to."

Something occurred to Genis, who stopped sipping at his hot chocolate and asked, "Zelos didn't eat Santa's Christmas Tree cookies again, did he?"

"How was I supposed to know you saved them for Santa?" Zelos defended as Raine replied, "No. I've put them on the counter and I'll get a glass of milk and put them on the table by Yuan."

The half-elf stiffened at the mention of his name and the eyes that suddenly turned on him in his nice squishy armchair. The heat was removed from the former member of Cruxis when Genis pointed out, "But we don't know when Santa's arriving. I think we should put the glass of milk in the fridge and leave him a note to tell him where it is."

"I always do that," Zelos commented. "Well, Sebastian does. And we leave him pastries as well as the traditional cookies, so he can choose what he likes if he decides he's tired of cookies."

"We aren't all rich, Zelos," Genis muttered.

"Do adults count?" Sheena suddenly enquired.

"Huh?" was the general consensus.

Regal asked the question on everyone's mind, "Do adults count towards what?"

Sheena blushed. "Oh, sorry. I-I meant the whole 'he only comes when you're sleeping' thing. Does it matter if the adults stay up?"

Zelos sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Of course it does, my voluptuous hunny! Don't you know that on Christmas Eve, the roof is red when you're not sleeping and green when you are so Santa knows when to come?"

Genis sniggered before bursting into gales of mocking laughter. "That's stupid, Zelos!" he managed to force out between breaths. "H-how can you-" he bit back more laughter to continue, "-believe that?"

"What, it's true!" Zelos insisted, adamantly. "My mother told me."

"Ri-ight," Genis responded, nodding, completely unconvinced.

Lloyd, however, was totally convinced and had rounded on his biological father demanding to know why Kratos hadn't told him that, while the swordsman in question merely stared, unable to think of an appropriate answer.

"I think," Raine said, her voice raised over the discussion that had spawned from Zelos' theory, "we should have some entertainment."

"Let's sing songs!" Colette suggested, excitedly.

"Let's not," Sheena responded.

"What did you used to do for Christmas, Yuan?" Raine queried, partly for something to do, but mostly for the purposes of her research on the ancient world, though Yuan didn't know that; it would sort of defeat the object of the operation.

The half-elf smirked and answered, "Many things."

There was something Zelos-esque about the way he said it, but Raine let it slide, instead pressing him to elaborate on that.

"Much the same as people do now," he stated. "All that was different about it is the service. What we did on Christmas Eve really depended on how old we were and how old everyone else was."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd enquired.

"We had to go to bed early for Mithos, so that Santa would come," he replied. "But during the day, when Mithos was twelve we took him to see the pantomime in Altamira. Martel would make cookies and Christmas Day's desserts. She used to sing Christmas carols as she worked. And she told stories to Mithos after dinner. Most of them were variations on the really famous ones."

"Tell us one!" Colette begged, the excitement of Christmas really getting to her. Raine smiled knowingly, fully aware that it wouldn't take long for the blonde to wear herself out and fall asleep ready for Christmas Day.

"There were so many, I can't remember them," the blue-haired man excused.

Zelos scoffed. "Just fill in the gaps then, Old Timer."

"Or make up your own version," Lloyd added.

"That would take more skill than Yuan has," Kratos commented. "They are stories comprised of rhyming couplets."

"More skill than I have?" Yuan echoed. "Alright, Colette, I'll tell you a story."

The Chosen celebrated as Yuan cleared his throat before he began;

"'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the base

Echoed a rumble from the fireplace-"

"But there isn't a fireplace," Lloyd interrupted, confusedly.

"Definition of story: factual or fictional narrative," Presea supplied. "Probability of it being fiction: 95%."

"It's just a story, Lloyd," Sheena translated as Genis stared in Presea's direction with pink-tinged cheeks.

"May I continue?" Yuan asked, impatiently.

"If you think you are able to maintain the rhyme," Kratos challenged.

"'Twas the night before Christmas and all-"

"Now you're just repeating it," Lloyd complained to be shushed by Sheena as the ancient half-elf glared.

"-through the base," he continued "Echoed a rumble from the fireplace.

On a higher floor, all tucked up in bed

The children were sleeping-"

"We're not children," Genis grumbled.

"You act like it," Yuan muttered, before deciding aloud for all to hear, "I give up. You're as irritating and childish as Mithos was. _He_ couldn't sit through a whole story either. Isn't it bedtime?" He gestured to Colette, who was actually in the process of falling asleep on Raine's shoulder.

Regal checked his watch. "Hmm, ten o'clock. That would give two hours to fall asleep before midnight."

"The great Zelos Wilder has no bedtime!" Zelos declared, scowling. Then his expression softened and he added, "But for Santa I guess I'll accept it."

"Everyone has to go then," Genis ordered, as his sister waved him out of the room. "That includes you, sis, and Kratos and Yuan – even if they don't sleep much."

Kratos rose, strode over to the door, then turned to face the young half-elf with a rare half-smile on his face. "Then I will retire now, lest I cause Santa Claus to bypass the base."

He disappeared around the door frame, followed closely by a chuckling Yuan, who was confident that for once, Zelos would not be stealthily attempting to pin up mistletoe because he wouldn't want to disturb Santa – unless he got up in the early hours, but Yuan didn't believe Zelos had the capacity for organisation to plan to do that (he liked his 'beauty sleep' too much) though he would be awake and on guard by then anyway.

Raine was the last person out of the room, as she wrote the note Genis had requested and placed it with the stockings once she'd poured out a glass of milk to deposit in the fridge. She flicked off the light, failing to notice a figure slipping into the room behind her back.

* * *

Kratos sat at Yuan's desk, the half-elf himself having curled up on (not in, that would be too easy) his bed with a book he'd read a thousand times but for some reason still wanted to read. Kratos had been given a suspicion that it was one of Mithos' early diaries hidden in a new dust cover.

He was reading too. Well, less reading, more staring at the words in spiky handwriting that he had already read multiple times, his eyes misted over. Occasionally, he'd shake his head absently, a frown on his face before squeezing his eyes closed and beginning the cycle again.

Lloyd's letter sat in plain view on the desk's immaculate surface. Or rather, Lloyd's confession; the boy obviously held Santa Claus in very high regard, Kratos observed as he once again read through the outpouring of his son's soul.

Perhaps he was being a bit overdramatic, but Lloyd was not really a child anymore and it wasn't like he'd needed Kratos as a father. He had Dirk. Dirk was enough – Lloyd had told him that himself. But apparently he wasn't. Lloyd didn't need him, anymore, but he still wanted him to be his father. And that shocked Kratos. After all, who would want a father like him?

But Lloyd, apparently, didn't want anything else. He wanted to spend more time with Kratos, to remember more about his childhood with Kratos and to learn more about Kratos. He wanted Santa to bring him something that would bring them closer, or, failing that, something to help Kratos get over losing him and Anna and to forgive himself because Lloyd forgave him and was certain that Anna would too.

The auburn haired swordsman didn't brag about it, but throughout his very long life, he'd learned a lot. He wasn't clever originally and he couldn't hope to ever equal Yuan in that department, but he understood a lot of things.

He couldn't understand that though.

He smiled, a full smile, a proper smile. He hoped, however, that he was getting there, and that Lloyd liked his present from Santa this year.

From his position in his comfortably furnished bedroom, Yuan too hoped that the choice for Lloyd's stocking present was spot on. It had taken him and Kratos an age to think of and Yuan had risked his own Christmas surprise for his companion of over 4000 years to suggest it.

Lloyd slumbered on, dreaming of Santa, Christmas, snow and presents, blissfully unaware of everything.

**

* * *

**

AN: I originally wrote in Lloyd's letter but decided to leave it out at the last moment, 'cause it was a little long winded... And I know this chapter is quite slow and noting happens, but it has to build up to Christmas Day, ne? Besides, with all I've got planned for next chapter, the next one is gonna be really, really long... Look forward to that...

Again, a really quick, rushed chapter. I just really wanted to get this out there so I can get started on Christmas day. I apologise for the rubbish quality of this chapter. In my defence (though it isn't much of one), I did write this in between intervals of guests (our house becomes a drop-in centre for friends and family on Christmas Eve) and after everyone had gone to bed tonight... I needed some time to unwind after having Grandad here today. I got a bit of an unpleasant shock, realising just how much of who he was he's lost when he didn't recognise me to the stage he didn't know who I was or where we were... I hadn't seen him get quite that bad before.

**Sorry for the overload there! ^.^'**

**It has just become Boxing Day as type this, so belated Merry Christmas to you all! I hope everyone's had an awesome year this year, and consumed their own weight in turkey (unless you're vegetarian) and Christmas pudding (if you like it), like I did! XD**

**Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, faved and/or alerted this fic! You've all given me a little more Christmas cheer.**

**As usual, please think of the author and her great love of turkey and Christmas pud, and make a donation in the form of a review to help her fund her Christmas food addiction! Thank you.**

**We only have one more chapter left of this fic, but it will be the best one!**

**~ThePurpleRose**


	4. Santa's Arrival and Snow Times

**AN: Okay, I am finally updating! Hands up if you're happy! (Sees no hands)... Okay... Well, this should be the last chapter, depending on how ridiculously long it is (Note: I write these before I do the chapter...) in the end.**

**Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own ToS. But I **_**do**_** own a pogo stick now. Apparently there's an art to it. An art I haven't mastered... But meh, still fun. I am such a child...**_

* * *

Blue hair was splayed over a pillow, creeping out from underneath the blanket that was draped over the peaceful, sleeping figure of a certain half-elf, who hadn't realised yet that he was sleeping and to whom it was likely to come as a bit of a shock that he had fallen asleep while reading it. It wasn't something that tended to happen with a Cruxis crystal equipped; it took a long while or a large amount of comfort to achieve that kind of spontaneous trip into La-la Land.

Kratos ran his hand through his hair, setting down the book he'd prised from his companion's hands in order to cover him with the blanket. His suspicions had been granted; it had been an early diary of Mithos – the one in which the mentally unstable half-elf met Kratos and Yuan. It was interesting for the swordsman to find out exactly how Mithos had thought of him back then, and his theories on how the human had come to be amicable with the elder half-elf – all of which were wrong. He chuckled, remembering the theory that Yuan had used his extensive knowledge (known to Mithos as a 'creepy obsession') of magitechnology to mess with his brain, and the fear Mithos had expressed of the same being done to him.

A yawn overcame him. It had been a stressful year and he wasn't naive enough to believe that it hadn't affected him. He was sure it wouldn't matter if he took a short nap. Or a longer nap.

He chanced a look at Yuan, to find the half-elf still a captive of La-la Land and establishing this, flopped down on the other bed brought in for him like his teenage son. Blissfully burying his face in the pillow, Kratos took a deep, tension relieving breath, his eyelids drifting closed.

"Dad Dad Dad Dad DAD!"

Kratos released a disappointed sigh as Yuan started at the bang of his office door opening. Through that door bounded an extremely excited Lloyd, the undercurrents of his insistent calling of Kratos – Genis similarly chanting "Raine Raine Raine!" – drifting in behind him.

Kratos met his son in the doorway of the bedroom, to be seized by the wrist and dragged halfway through Yuan's office before remembering he could fight back.

"Lloyd," he began, "What-"

"Dad, he's been!" Lloyd announced, eyes bright with excitement. "Santa's been!"

"And you should be in bed," Kratos finished.

Lloyd huffed. "But Da-ad!" he whined.

"What time is it?" Kratos enquired, tiredly pushing back his hair in an ancient, and usually quelled, habit as he looked around for a clock.

"Quarter past three," Lloyd supplied.

"You got up later than that when you were three," the elder swordsman groaned. "Go to bed, Lloyd. You can't open any presents until everyone is awake and it is morning."

Lloyd chewed on his lip, fidgeting as he argued, "But, technically, it _is_ morning."

With another sigh, Kratos said the words that he and Anna had uttered many times throughout Lloyd's childhood. "Lloyd, please just go to bed so I can sleep."

Lloyd gaped. "You were asleep?"

Kratos quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Heheh, no," Lloyd lied, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "It's just, you aren't in pyjamas, so I thought that maybe you and Yuan just had a nap for when Santa came."

"I do not own pyjamas," his father informed him. "And I did not see a reason to remove any of my clothing simply for a few hours sleep."

He didn't add that he just hadn't slept in so long that he hadn't even thought about it, or getting between the sheets.

"Sorry I woke you up," Lloyd muttered, his hand falling back down to his side dejectedly.

"It is quite alright, Lloyd," Kratos responded, smiling as he had the last Christmas he had spent with his son and repeating softly, "Go back to bed and get to sleep."

He ruffled his son's hair, smile still firmly in place, then turned away and returned to the bedroom, where Yuan was lying on the bed with his book. He ignored the smirk on his best friend's face as he threw himself onto the bed that was his own throughout the festive season.

"Santa Claus has been then," the half-elf teased.

Kratos chuckled. "That he has."

"Thanks," Yuan suddenly said, in a quieter, more serious voice, gesturing to the blanket that still covered his legs, having come from Kratos' bed.

"You're welcome," was the equally quiet yet slightly amused response. "Goodnight, Yuan. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

Yuan placed the book on the bedside table and rose, taking the blanket with him to arrange it around the human. Kratos flinched, his eyes snapping open onto his companion.

"Yuan?"

"It came from your bed, moron," Yuan answered softly, pulling the blanket over the younger man's shoulders. He smoothed the unruly auburn hair as its owner's eyes closed. "Goodnight."

He allowed himself a small smile before retreating back to his own bed with the observation, "I haven't known Christmas to mean this much to you since you were a child."

Watching the slow rise-and-fall of the human's breathing beneath the blanket, he sighed, settling back onto the pillow, the book he's just picked up resting in his lap as he remembered a certain phrase from eons ago.

'_I know Santa doesn't exist, Yuan. I'm not stupid! It's obvious Santa couldn't deliver all those presents and coal to people in just one night. I know it's really the summon spirits who deliver them – and Origin who tells if you're naughty or nice.'_

He shook his head. Kratos and Lloyd were more alike than the latter knew.

'_Hey, Yuan? You get a present if you're nice, and if you're naughty, you just get coal, but what happens if you're nice and you really want coal?'_

Yes, Kratos had asked some ridiculous questions in his time, much like his son did now.

He got up, checking fleetingly that his companion was still asleep, and crept across the room to the wardrobe, where he silently sank to his knees and eased a red, leather-bound book out from beneath the piece of furniture. The cover was embellished with silver text reading, "Christmas".

Dawdling over to the bed, he leafed through the yellowing pages filled with text and pictures of increasing quality as he had modified and improved his device, to detail Christmases over the years. It petered out towards the end, with Mithos' insanity and his and Kratos' servitude, so he was left with purely fond memories of the festive variety.

Settling on the foot of his bed, he turned back to the very beginning, and a grainy, sepia image his twelve year old self sitting by the fire with an eight year old with wild hair and a wide smile. Beneath it was an account of his first Christmas with the human who was to become his best friend, including the best quotes and his own atrocious spelling, copied exactly from the journal in which it was written for authenticity.

He flicked to the first end of the last entry – an account of the first Christmas on Derris Kharlan, in which Kratos had tried so hard to be as cheerful and as good a cook as Martel had been. With another, reminiscent sigh, he procured a pen and started to write.

"Snow is falling all around me, children playing having fun," a chorus of voices floated through the kitchen, belonging to Colette, Lloyd and Zelos.

A small breakfast of cereal had been eaten; the washing up had been thrown into Yuan's dishwasher and ignored; and Regal had already made a start on Christmas dinner, Genis lending a hand with dessert. And it was only quarter past seven.

Kratos looked on as Lloyd broke off from the singing, which had been inadvertently suggest by Yuan, who happened to tell Raine that Martel would sing assorted Christmas hits while she checked the Turkey and fended off the question from Mithos that Lloyd, it seemed, was just about to ask.

"Can we go open the presents now?" He asked it.

"No, Lloyd," Raine stated firmly.

"Not even the stocking ones?" he continued.

Raine's eyebrows migrated underneath her hair. "No," she said sternly.

Zelos picked it up. "Aw, c'mon my ultra cool, gorgeo-"

Sheena elbowed him as she swallowed the last spoonful of her cereal.

"What about Mar-Christmas spirit?" he protested.

"It wouldn't be generous or kind for me to let you speak," Sheena retorted.

"So, Lloyd," Genis teased, bored of Sheena and Zelos' argument. "Are you bored of the snow already, yet?"

* * *

In Yuan's opinion, Christmas morning flew by in a relatively uneventful manner. He was basing this on the many Christmases spent in the company of Mithos. Actually, Zelos had refused point-blank to step outside in the snow and had spent the morning lounging around in various positions throughout the base and preparing the little surprise he'd set up the night before once Raine had switched off the lights.

Raine had been caught sneaking in the direction of the kitchen four times; twice by Kratos, once by Regal, who had been setting the table during the previous attempt, and the final time by Lloyd, who was not amused by Raine's attempted 'sabotage' of his dinner. The professor hadn't been amused by his referral of her cooking as 'sabotage'. Genis had, and had paid his karmic debt in tripping over Lloyd's foot and causing a domino-effect fall, punctuated by Colette tripping over the heap formed by Genis, Lloyd and Sheena, who had been taken down by Lloyd, and completing the pile.

Four snow angels had been made by Genis, Lloyd, Colette and Sheena, and been transformed into the Four Seraphim when Colette decided to equip hers with a winged staff, and Lloyd attempted to mimic Kratos' hair with his. Genis had simply dubbed his 'Mithos' then scuttled off to help Presea and Raine in constructing a giant snowman, which they later named Zelos on account of its perverted expression. Sheena had sculpted Yuan's cape and ponytail in great detail, much to the amusement of Kratos.

In retaliation, Yuan had attempted a snow angel based on Sheena but had swept it away for use in the Great Snowball War instigated by Lloyd, in which Kratos had surprised his son with the accuracy of his aim and the sheer skill with which his snowballs were crafted. Apparently, Yuan found out, such snowballing skill was hereditary, or at least the capability to build such skill was.

Finally, though, everyone was safely seated at the table and awaiting their dinner, which was brought out by Regal, Kratos, Yuan and Genis, and, in the case of Lloyd, devoured almost instantaneously.

"Why did the doll blush?" Presea asked monotonously, facing Genis, who had been her cracker pulling partner.

"Er, I don't know, Presea," Genis responded, blushing.

Presea read, "Because she saw the Teddy Bear."

Zelos snickered as Lloyd muttered, "I don't get it."

"Think 'bare' as in naked, Lloyd," Genis prompted, as Colette shook her head.

After a couple of minutes, she giggled, Lloyd laughing along with her despite having already forgotten all about the joke and been more focussed on the Christmas pudding, as Yuan had called it, that the half-elf was now bringing to the table with a choice of custard or cream.

The younger members of the congregation ate this quickly, while Raine relentlessly questioned Yuan about the ingredients and the origins of the pudding, and receiving no concrete answers. Yuan didn't know or care about the origins of Christmas pudding and didn't want Raine to know or care about the ingredients. He pleased when she finally swallowed the last mouthful of the dessert and he was able to clear the table to escape. History lessons could be interesting, he found, but they weren't very enjoyable when you were the lecturer/relic being quizzed/studied.

"Present time?" Zelos enquired, already halfway to the door. He paused, looking back at Raine, who reluctantly nodded, inadvertently causing a stampede of believers to the Christmas tree.

With a sigh, she stacked up some plates and went to help the other adults in the kitchen, where she realised that the washing up had just been dumped into an industrialised dishwasher and abandoned. She cast a look towards its owner, to receive a shrug and the explanation, "It isn't as if we'll run out of plates."

Kratos was the last adult to trickle out of the kitchen and over to the Christmas tree, so deep in thought that he almost crashed into Yuan's back as the half-elf suddenly halted, stunned in the doorway. There was only a moment's contemplation before Yuan let out a loud, barking laugh. As his companion ventured further into the room, watching his friend's reaction, and he took his place, Kratos figured out why.

There, dangling from the light fixture in the middle of the room, and suspended above every door leading out of the room, was a sprig of mistletoe.

It seemed that either Zelos had got his way after all, or Yuan had been planning this all along.

From the looks on both long-haired male's faces, it could have been both.

**

* * *

**

AN: Okay, I'm sorry this chapter was so slow moving. It's a scene-setter for the next one. Yeah, I split it in two – and the next one isn't actually finished yet either... Let me tell you, that's gonna be a long chapter too... But it does contain flashback-ness, presents and the long awaited oyako! So keep reading? Please?

**Thanks for reading this far, everyone! Reviewers get double thanks! It's nearly over now...**

**Please review; any opinions, feedback and messages even if they are simple and you don't think they're much – a simple "I'm reading this" will do – make me happy and speed up the updating process.**

**Thanks again!**

**~ThePurpleRose**


	5. More Mistletoe and Gifts

**AN: Here is the second instalment of what would've been chapter 4 but is now just gonna be chapter 5.**

**I'm gonna save my comments for the end of the story, so for now, I hope you like this chapter!**

**Oh, and as a warning, there are some hints of Tales of Fandom and Kratos and Yuan get very close in this chapter, but do not worry haters of shounen-ai, this story is still ambiguous and down to how you want to perceive it. All will be explained in a handily placed flashback later on. I'm actually writing this with a view of it being an extremely close friendship rather than anything romantic, having seen something very similar happen between two perfectly straight guys (and no, it wasn't Scrubs). They **_**have**_** known each other for a really long time, and the world is bound to have been different back then.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, so all the scrooges out there who would sue me, here is your Christmas present. Don't own. Don't sue. Thank you!**_

* * *

"Isn't it great?" Colette gushed, "The walls grew plants!"

Zelos, by now, was grinning. "I told you you couldn't have Christmas without mistletoe," he repeated.

"You can," Yuan argued, with a smug smirk, "but it isn't as fun." He turned his attention to the ancient swordsman in the doorway. "We all know what they say about mistletoe," he added, suggestively.

"That it repels werewolves," the human answered dully with a tired sigh, as his companion stepped up to him and kissed him noisily on the check. "It is shame that it doesn't repel you," he commented, drawing his arm across his cheek and scrubbing it vigorously, a dissatisfied expression visible on his face.

Yuan laughed, turning away from Kratos, who hastily relocated away from any mistletoe, coming to a halt by the Christmas tree as the half-elf settled in the squishiest armchair. "Let's see how many times you fall for it this year!"

"I'll get you back for that," Kratos promised.

"You're welcome to," Yuan replied with a melodramatic wink.

"If I had something to throw at you..." Kratos threatened.

Yuan smirked. "Why not just punch me?"

"Because I haven't forgotten about the piece of mistletoe you've got in your cape," Kratos responded.

Yuan corrected, "Cloak."

"It's a superhero cape and it makes you look gay," Kratos observed, in a way that made him seem so much like Lloyd that the others were all catapulted into more shock than mistletoe incident had caused.

Yuan gaped. "You cut me deep, human." He held a hand over his heart. "Right there. Oh, would you look at that; I bounced back."

"Shame," Kratos remarked.

Yuan leaned back into the armchair, throwing his arms behind his head. "You're so fun to tease this time of year. The Meltokio courts scarred you, my friend. I never thought your fans would have this much of an effect."

"Whoa! Kratos had fans! What did he do, crack a joke?" Zelos exploded, having only processed the information that had the possibility of relating to female attention.

"Oh yes, Captain Aurion had quite the fan base," Yuan revealed, grinning evilly. "Aside from work, he could barely go outside for fans chasing him with mistletoe at this time of year. Even the rumours didn't stop that. But don't worry; I brought the mistletoe to him. Can't have Christmas without mistletoe, after all."

"Can I suggest that we leave the mistletoe alone now?" Kratos said dryly.

"Why?" Yuan enquired. "Humans are so uptight. Half-elves used to put mistletoe up all around our villages, so that we could share our love for our kinsfolk."

"So why must you share that tradition with me?" Kratos grumbled, helping Raine to unhook and distribute the stockings without getting within mistletoe range again.

"You're my brother in arms, aren't you?" Yuan asked, rhetorically.

The ancient human settled in a chair next to where Lloyd was unable to sit still on the sofa, gently passing a stocking to his son. "If I deny it, will you leave me alone?" he wondered.

Yuan shook his head. "You can't change how I see you, and you've been with me for so long that you're practically family anyway," he informed him. "Well, isn't it time to see what Santa brought?"

Zelos wasted no time in delving into his alarmingly flat stocking, pulling out a letter in a gold envelope.

"Zelos has been naughty this year!" Genis trumpeted, setting his own small present onto his lap gently to watch.

"Shut it, brat!" Zelos snapped ripping into the envelope to free the letter inside. "I happen to have been the epitome of perfection this year; bringing much joy to all the ladies I've met."

"Tch," Sheena scoffed. "You bring the opposite of joy to us."

"Ouch, hunny," Zelos responded. "Would a complementary soak in my new hot tub change your mind?"

"You got a hot tub!" Lloyd exclaimed, pausing in the act of carefully examining his relatively small, rectangularly panelled present with the tips of his fingers.

"Uh huh," Zelos drawled. "It's gonna be installed at my house by the time I get back."

"Oh yay!" Colette cried, holding up a powder blue, spaghetti-strapped dress. "Thank you, Santa!" She knocked the paper and the stocking off her lap in her exuberance. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Me next!" Genis called, apparently bored with shaking the present. He tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a new set of panpipes, similar to those originally played by Martel. Yuan, who had picked them out, smiled at the excited look on the boy's face.

"Look Raine!" he commanded, leaning over the arm of the sofa to shove them under her nose.

His sister laughed. "Now you've just got to learn to play them."

"Wow, Genis," Colette approved, craning her neck for a better look and clapping in excitement. "When you learn to play them we can have a concert!"

Sheena finished peeling the paper off of the spare set of cards she'd picked out for herself and had Kratos wrap to avoid suspicion. "Just want I needed!" she commented, Presea studying Sheena's new weapons over her shoulder, as she unearthed her pot plant from its leaf themed paper bought by Regal.

"I feel the same," she reported, her words still flat but a rare smile on her face.

Lloyd, by now, was carefully shaking his.

"Do you have a guess yet, Lloyd?" Genis asked, leaning his head around the bouncing form of Colette, who sat between him and Lloyd on the sofa.

Lloyd shook his head. "No idea. Guess I'll just have to open it."

He opened the present quickly but with surprising care for someone so reckless. Beneath the paper was another box, the lid to which Lloyd opened to reveal a note comprised of newspaper cuttings that listed:

Lloyd's first words

Lloyd's first steps

Lloyd's first birthday

Lloyd's second birthday.

Underneath the note was a disc.

"It's one of those discs that Zelos has," he said. "That plays a film."

Kratos leaned closer, Lloyd presenting the open box and note to him.

"It would seem as though it is the footage that we lost," the elder swordsman mused falsely, as he knew what it was. Yuan had told him it was footage he had recovered from the video camera that had been broken when taking Kratos back to Cruxis after the death of Anna. It seemed prudent that Lloyd should have a copy of it.

"You mean, a film of you, me and Mom?" Lloyd questioned, his face lighting up with hope.

Kratos smiled. "Something like that."

"Cool!" Lloyd exclaimed. "I get to see Mom!"

"Let's watch it now!" Colette suggested.

"Later on, maybe," Yuan steered, rising from the chair to distribute an armful of gifts to the group. "We should finish opening these first, or they won't be open until tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," Colette quietly agreed, her disappointment melting away a soft package was dropped onto her knees.

"To my dear little Angel," she read, as Zelos barely spared the tag on his present a second glance before freeing it from its snowball themed prison in a flurry of paper. "Love, Zelos. And I get three kisses! Thank you Zelos!"

"You haven't opened it yet, you dork," Lloyd commented, once again feeling and shaking his latest Christmas gift, from Regal.

"Thank you very much, my little Rosebud," Zelos drawled, blowing Presea a kiss that led to him receiving a pointed glare from Genis as he held up his new pot of sword polish. Well, it was the thought that counted and Presea was nothing if not practical.

"Oh, a puppy!" Colette gushed. "Thank you, Zelos! I'll name Mr Fluff and he can sleep on my bed like a real puppy."

Over the course of the afternoon, Colette received Zelos' stuffed toy puppy, a book about caring for puppies from Raine, a puppy themed bracelet from Lloyd, a puppy themed jumper from Sheena, a large puppy ornament crafted from sacred wood from Presea and some little chocolates in the shape of puppies made by Genis (with a little help from Regal, who gave Colette a book of angel poems, and the Wonderchef). Kratos and Yuan each provided the Chosen with books in the angelic language so that she wouldn't forget it, for which Colette was surprisingly grateful.

Zelos received a plethora of beauty products, the aftershave given to him by Yuan ironically wrapped in mistletoe wrapping paper with a sprig of the plant attached around the neck where the label was. Zelos wasting no time in re-attaching it to his headband and presenting himself to Sheena who punched him until being politely reminded by Yuan that it was traditional to him that if two people were caught beneath the mistletoe together it should result in a kiss between those two persons. This resulted in Sheena begrudgingly going to give him a quick peck on the cheek, only to have him whip his head to the side to cheat a kiss to the lips. In his opinion, the resulting slap to the cheek was worth it.

Like Colette's, most of Sheena's gifts shared a common theme, though her theme was summoning. She received a multitude of gems, charms and talismans to speed up or otherwise help the summoning process, a book on ancient summoners from Raine, who seemed to buy everyone books and a small figurine of Corrine from Lloyd, which had almost reduced her to tears. The only present to her that hadn't been related to her ability, aside from the unopened one that sat on her lap, had been a book of ancient fairytales written up by Yuan, who had collected them from the journey to split the worlds onwards, though he claimed that they had summoners in them.

Yuan had also given a compilation book to Genis, of all the spells he had found and learned over the years, despite lacking the ability or the drive to execute them all, copied out and bound in leather. Raine had instantly vowed to read it and study it while her brother was sleeping, before he had even unwrapped his tome on the history of Heimdall from her, or the new kendama – a collaborative effort from Presea and Lloyd, the other studies on magic, guides to Palmacosta and Sybak, a Tethe'allan cookbook (Regal's choice of gift) pens, pencil, notebooks and a ruler.

Regal too received a large amount of stationery and cooking utensils, a selection that Yuan expected (minus the cooking utensils) that he would be unwrapping too, but in actual fact, the half-elf was surprised to only receive one set of expensive pens from Zelos. The other part of his array of presents was made up of surprisingly domestic items, such as newly released books that he wouldn't have read before, a pair of plain black slippers, hair-ties, a new comb, a blanket with sewn in sleeves and some fluffy socks with rabbits and carrots on them from Colette, whose reasoning was that everyone's feet got cold and she hadn't seen anything cuddly in the base and figured he needed something soft.

Socks had also been Colette's gift to Raine, who unsurprisingly gained all the books that the others had noticed her ogling through bookshop windows as they travelled across Tethe'alla along with items previously owned by Kratos and Yuan, before the worlds had split, which Raine gleefully caressed and had been stashed under the Christmas tree out of the way by Regal, while the healer had been distracted by Genis and Lloyd testing out the size of Presea's new sledge.

The pink-haired girl herself was totally unaware of this, as she examined the teddy bear that Genis had bought her, before finally placing the toy on top of her stack of presents, consisting of snow boots, arm guards, a mana-powered chainsaw developed by Yuan, a flowery jumper that Colette thought would look cute on the girl, a diary, assorted sweets, some marbles and a pack of cards.

Lloyd had eventually been coaxed away from the sledge by Sheena, the ninja saving her last present, from Zelos, in order witness Lloyd adding a badly knitted pair of mittens made by Colette to add to the revision guides purchased by Raine, the pogo stick from Zelos, the remote-controlled rheaird constructed by Yuan, Regal's guide to meat dishes, Presea's training swords and Genis' photo album with the accompanying camera bought by Sheena and improved by Yuan.

Kratos' gifts were along the same lines as Yuan's, with pyjamas from both Lloyd and Colette, so that he had two sets as opposed to none, socks, slippers, newly released books, a selection of books on astrology and a portable telescope. And from Yuan, he received a sprig of mistletoe, which he threw over Lloyd's head at the half-elf in question.

Yuan laughed, dodging so that it bounced harmlessly over his shoulder. Lloyd stopped thanking Colette for the mittens and turned to Yuan questioningly as he admitted, "That's not your real present."

He passed another package over to Raine to pass along the row to his ancient companion as Sheena uncovered her gift from Zelos.

"A locket?" she murmured in disbelief, looking up from the intricate, silver object to the serious face of her home country's Chosen. "It had better not contain a picture of you."

Zelos held up his hand in mock surrender, a lopsided grin stretching across his face as she regarded him suspiciously. Her eyes returned to his gift, her fingers deftly releasing the catch to unlock its secrets.

She gasped. "Oh, Zelos, this is..." She smiled at the group picture taken by Hilda in front of the palace as the groups faces all smiled up at her. "I love it! Thank you!"

"So will you kiss me under the mistletoe now?" he enquired with a smirk.

She snorted. "Don't push your luck," she warned, despite her wide smile.

"Dad, can I shake it?" Lloyd asked, his hand poised to shake the first gift he remembered receiving from his biological father.

"Hmm," Kratos considered. "You may, but I wouldn't shake it too hard."

Abandoning the shaking of the red-papered present, Lloyd began to ease it out of the wrapping. A photo frame sat neatly in his hands, depicting a grinning, brown-haired woman wearing reindeer's ears, in the arms of a smiling, auburn-haired man with a Santa's hat. In her arms was a sleeping baby in a red blanket. It was the baby that the man was smiling at as his free hand stroked the infant's hair. It was Kratos, Anna and Lloyd.

"I found it inside Anna's wedding dress," Kratos explained softly. "I kept it folded in the bag she put it in. It was in my pack when... Well, the picture is yours now, taken on your very first Christmas. Yuan took it, I believe."

"Thanks, Dad," Lloyd breathed, continuing to stare at the photo in the frame in fascination as Yuan pulled a black cloak from a wrapped cardboard box, holding it up to inspect it. It was almost exactly the same as the one he wore now.

"Kratos?" Yuan questioned.

"I didn't mean it, Yuan," Kratos explained. "It isn't a superhero cape and it doesn't make you look gay – it's your hair that has that effect."

The half-elf sent him a pointed look and he chuckled. "I thought you might like a new once, since Mithos and I decorated the labels on that one," he human shared.

Yuan grinned. "Open yours then," he ordered.

The human slowly unfolded the wrapping paper to reveal a black case. "You got me a case," he said slowly.

"Open the case," Yuan demanded, equally slowly.

It opened onto a disc identical to the one Lloyd had received from 'Santa'.

"What's on the disc?" its recipient enquired.

Yuan tapped at the side of his nose with a sniff. "You'll have to watch it to find out."

"Put in on now!" Genis begged, Colette picking up the argument behind him.

Kratos frowned before looking up to Yuan and querying over them, "Should I?"

"I don't see why not," was Yuan's reply.

Kratos' only movement was the narrowing of his eyes as he stared at his companion in suspicion. Yuan got up and took the disc from his lap before striding to the TV that had been temporarily mounted on the opposite wall and inserting it into the inbuilt player on the underside of the flat screen. He paused, waiting for the group to settle down where everyone had a good view of the screen, then pressed 'play' and returned to his seat, watching Kratos' face for a reaction.

A crash reverberated through the room, causing many of the watching heroes to jump and Kratos to frown. Seconds later, there a muffled voice floated through the speakers.

"_Oops! Sorry, Yuan. I didn't mean to drop it."_

_Toes curled and uncurled in fluffy pink socks as the camera was lifted from the wooden floor. Mithos' young face came into view, the half-elf examining the device for damage, eliciting several clicks from it, before releasing a long sigh of relief._

"_Not broken."_

_The only noises were the soft footsteps muffled by Mithos' fluffy socks and the rustling of his clothes as he hugged the camera to his chest, clothed in rabbit themed pyjamas. Coming to halt, Mithos emitted a slight sound of satisfaction before he gently placed the camera strategically atop a high surface, overlooking two beds._

_His figure was seen retreating from view before a fuzzing flash and white noise heralded the dawn of a new day, more light now streaming through the curtains and shining a light on the identities of the figures. The first had burrowed into the covers so that only an explosion of blue hair remained visible on his pillow, while the second had an arm and a leg dangling over the edge of the bed with only half of his body covered by more than the loose grey trousers and tight black T-shirt that he wore._

_The second figure frowned in sleep, scratched his nose then rolled over dramatically, flinging the leg that had previously been lacking the comfort of the mattress in a wild arc before it came to rest with its partner in a surprisingly neat way. The first shifted slightly but remained deeply asleep. But not for long._

_The door swung open in a wide arc, slamming against the wall before returning to its previous position. Both figures flinched but neither had a chance to react before something small, blonde and clad in pink leapt onto the second figure's bed._

"_It's Christmas!" Mithos declared, repeating it and bouncing on the bed when this failed to get him good enough reaction, as the human in question had merely groaned and mumbled a quick, "Yes, Mithos."_

_Kratos sat up, knocking the boy to the foot of the bed, assuring, "I'm up. I'm up," as he leaned back on the headboard._

_Mission accomplished, Mithos moved on to Yuan, shaking him violently and demanding that he should get out of bed for Christmas. Yuan growled something but it was muffled by the quilt. From Mithos' shocked face, it wasn't something nice._

_Undeterred, Mithos upped the volume of his commands and continued the shaking to be swatted away and then ignored as the elder half-elf turned his back on the younger, grumbling more threats._

"_Leave him to me," Kratos ordered, clambering out of bed. He tugged his one, rolled up trouser leg down to his ankle, pushed back his hair from his face and padded over to the bed. "Get up," he commanded flatly, attention focussed on the horizontal figure._

_Yuan didn't move. Mithos snickered to be silenced by a sharp look from Kratos, who threatened, "Or I will get you up."_

"_Scary," Yuan slurred sleepily, snuggling further into the covers_

_Kratos ripped them away from him, tossing them onto his own bed. "I warned you," he told the half-elf, whose own choice of sleepwear, black trousers and a long-sleeved, white T-shirt was now exposed to the cooler air of the room._

_Yuan muttered something darkly and covered his head with the pillow, which he clung to desperately. "I can live without covers," he added._

_Kratos smirked, waving a confused Mithos over to his bed before picking something up off the bedside table. "No?" he responded teasingly. "I have something you can't live without." _

_As if to punctuate this, he ran a finger along the bristles of the brush in his hand so that it made a recognisable sound. As a head of blue hair shot up, upsetting the pillow, which fell on the floor, Kratos shot out of the door, the sound of his deliberately loud footsteps fading rapidly._

"_He took my hairbrush," Yuan said, disbelievingly. "I'll kill him!"_

_With that, he too tore from the room, leaving behind a now very confused Mithos, who enquired of the air around him, "What about Christmas spirit?"_

_Thoughtfully, the pyjama wearing summoner retrieved the stolen camera and padded through the doorway, immortalising every garland and decoration he come across on film until he trudged into a kitchen of sorts to be greeted by the sight of a smiling green-haired woman, who laughed musically, shaking a sprig of mistletoe and planting a kiss on her younger brother behind the camera and receiving louder one in return._

"_Merry Christmas, little brother!" she wished with a loving smile._

_The door opened, Mithos whirling around to catch Kratos entering through the other door, his eyes widening as he registered the proximity of Martel with a certain Christmas plant. He took a hasty step backwards but was caught by the arm by the laughing healer._

"_Don't think you're getting away!" she said, releasing his arm to place her hands on either side of his head and punctuating that with a kiss to the forehead. "Where's mine?" she enquired._

"_I don't like mistletoe," he retorted._

_Martel raised one eyebrow. "I don't like washing Mithos' clothes when he's been out training with you but I do it because I love him, just like I heal you because I love you."_

"_You half-elves are weird about love," he remarked._

_Martel merely tapped her cheek with one finger, her other eyebrow rising into her hair to join its partner. Kratos sighed and begrudgingly awarded her a peck on her cheek, immediately retreating from the doorway and the sprig of mistletoe._

"_See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" she said with a sunny smile. She ventured forwards and patted him on the shoulder._

"_It's only because you're the best cook," he mumbled as she disappeared through another doorway. The sounds of moving utensils were heard moments after._

"_Happy Christmas, Kratos!" Mithos offered, taking a step towards the stoic swordsman, who was eying the mistletoe that hung above the doors warily._

"_Yep, merry Christmas Kratos!" Yuan echoed seemingly appearing from out of nowhere behind the human member of the group who seemed to instantly have him in a headlock. "Hey, hey, ow!"_

"_Drop it!" Kratos commanded._

"_Drop what?" Yuan demanded, struggling through the hold to see his friend's face._

_Kratos glared. "The mistletoe."_

"_Oh, this mistletoe?" Yuan teased, earning another snigger from the younger half-elf watching._

_Kratos confirmed, "That mistletoe."_

_Yuan obeyed with a mocking smirk to be released by the human, who backed into the doorway. "You know, if you keep resisting tradition like this, I'll have to get you on the lips."_

_Kratos scoffed, rolling his eyes confidently. "I just foiled you. I'd like to see you try."_

"_Oh really?" Yuan questioned._

"_You believe you can succeed?" Kratos asked._

"_I'll take that as a challenge," Yuan responded closing the gap between them until they were inches apart._

_Kratos was smirking now. "You don't scare me; you no longer have the mistletoe."_

"_Look up," Yuan advised, pressing his lips to the human's as Kratos did._

_Mithos burst into laughter at Kratos' shocked expression, and the narrowly avoided punch that was thrown in the direction of Yuan that dissolved into an impromptu wrestle under the mistletoe that Yuan himself had set up the night before while his human friend had been sleeping._

_Martel rushed in, brandishing a ladle, which she waved wildly to split up the fight that was turning into more of a play-fight, a disapproving frown set into her features. Mithos was almost laughing too hard to hear Yuan brag to his human companion;_

"_I told you I'd get you. Let's see how many times you fall for it this year."_

_Kratos folded his arms and glared. "At least I don't look gay."_

_Yuan spluttered, "I do not look gay! You're the one with powder blue boxers!"_

_Martel waved her ladle between them. "You both look a little bit gay. You're not helping matters by leaping on each other every time you argue, now shut up and have a merry Christmas and one of the sausage rolls I've put on the table because they need eating!"_

_Both supposed 'adult' males stared at the only woman present in shock._

"_I'm on it!" Mithos announced, abandoning the camera on the arm of a chair and pouncing on the sausage rolls._

_Martel returned to the kitchen as Yuan and Kratos slowly ambled over, Yuan dropping into a chair and Kratos absentmindedly reached for a sausage roll and pushed it into his mouth. Mithos forced one into Yuan's hand before swallowing._

"_This Christmas is gonna be the best Christmas ever!" he proclaimed, reclining on the sofa as Kratos and Yuan shared a glance and started to laugh._

"_Yeah," Yuan agreed watching Kratos chew another sausage roll, "I think you might be right."_

"Wow," Zelos commented as Yuan flicked off the screen, resting his ankle across his knee and pillowing his head with his hands on the side of the sofa. "Martel sure was one feisty chick."

Yuan sent a sharp stare in his direction but it was ignored as Sheens took the opportunity to push him to floor with her foot. Ignoring the sounds of Zelos' protests, Yuan dictated, "That's it for today. I do believe it's time for dinner."

Regal rose, vowing to get the gammon and salads dished up, the others trickling out of the room discussing how different everyone had been back then, to take their places at the table. Kratos stayed behind, watching as Lloyd slowly set aside the photograph of them with Anna and stood.

"Hey, Dad?" he asked quietly.

Kratos responded, "Hmm?"

"Was it the best Christmas ever?" he enquired.

Kratos smiled, ruffling his son's hair before pulling him into a, incredibly rare hug. "It was a good year, but I don't think so. I would say that this Christmas will have to finish before a comparison can be made. But I know which the best Martelmas was."

"I didn't think you celebrated Martelmas," Lloyd stated, breathing in the scent of leather and Kratos that had been absent from his life for so long and relishing the feeling of being close to his father, and the memories of home and security from all those years ago that it sparked. He felt small again, and yet it was strangely comforting with the semblance of safety that it carried.

"I didn't," Kratos answered, Lloyd feeling the low rumble of his father's voice through their embrace. "But your mother did, so the three of us celebrated Martelmas. Those three days were the best Martelmases of my life, and Yggdrasil used to have us celebrate it with a banquet in Vinheim. It was nothing compared to any day I spent with you, and with Anna."

Kratos ended the hug, ruffling Lloyd's hair once again. "The others will be waiting."

Lloyd wasn't finished digesting the information Kratos had just shared. "Mom celebrated Martelmas, even though she knew it wasn't real?"

Kratos nodded. "She argued that the principles behind it were real even if Martel herself was not a goddess."

"Wow, Mom was amazing, wasn't she?" Lloyd replied.

"Yes, she was a very strong-willed woman. You are just like her." Kratos walked to the doorway, pausing just long enough to turn back to his son and say, "She would be proud of you, as I am."

The others were so wrapped up in the Christmas spirit that they didn't notice the rare, full smile on the elder swordsman's face, and wrote off the wide grin adorning the expression of the younger as the Christmas spirit. But it wasn't thoughts of Christmas that dominated the thoughts of the eternal swordsman. It was thoughts of the Martelmas values that his mother had believed in so much, and the best Martelmas he had ever had.

As Yuan brought out a steaming platter of gammon, Lloyd snapped back into the present. He couldn't help but think that Mithos was right even if the previous eternal swordsman didn't know it.

So far, this year had definitely been the best Christmas ever.

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AN: Okay, I don't think this is the best of chapters, but hey, I had my biology exam today so I just hope that the end of this chapter (the bit I've done today) isn't too bad, and isn't too riddled with typos.

**Whew! Over 5000 words... This is a long chapter for me...**

**But yeah, I hope you've all enjoyed it and had a great festive period!**

**Please review and tell me what you think; I spent forever on this chapter. So much of it was really hard to write and I hope the oyako in this doesn't suck as badly as I think it does. I might go back and edit it later...**

**Thanks to all my fantastic readers, reviewers and those who've put this fic on their favourite's list or alerts! You're all great!**

**~ThePurpleRose**


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